MyTrack+: Human-centered design of an mHealth app to support long-term weight loss maintenance.

A growing body of research has focused on the utility of adaptive intervention models for promoting long-term weight loss maintenance; however, evaluation of these interventions often requires customized smartphone applications. Building such an app from scratch can be resource-intensive. To support a novel clinical trial of an adaptive intervention for weight loss maintenance, we developed a companion app, MyTrack+, to pair with a main commercial app, FatSecret (FS), leveraging a user-centered design process for rapid prototyping and reducing software engineering efforts.

Predicting high-risk periods for weight regain following initial weight loss.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a predictive algorithm of "high-risk" periods for weight regain after weight loss.

Methods: Longitudinal mixed-effects models and random forest regression were used to select predictors and develop an algorithm to predict weight regain on a week-to-week basis, using weekly questionnaire and self-monitoring data (including daily e-scale data) collected over 40 weeks from 46 adults who lost ≥5% of baseline weight during an initial 12-week intervention (Study 1). The algorithm was evaluated in 22 adults who completed the same Study 1 intervention but lost <5% of baseline weight and in 30 adults recruited for a separate 30-week study (Study 2).

Differential impact of telehealth extended-care programs for weight-loss maintenance in African American versus white adults.

Extended-care interventions have been demonstrated to improve maintenance of weight loss after the end of initial obesity treatment; however, it is unclear whether these programs are similarly effective for African American versus White participants. The current study examined differences in effectiveness of individual versus group telephone-based extended-care on weight regain, compared to educational control, in 410 African American (n = 82) and White (n = 328) adults with obesity (mean ± SD age = 55.6 ± 10.

Impact of transition from face-to-face to telehealth on behavioral obesity treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: This study evaluated whether the transition of a face-to-face behavioral intervention to videoconferencing-based telehealth delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significantly smaller weight losses than those typically observed in gold-standard, face-to-face programs.

Methods: Participants were 160 adults with obesity (mean [SD] age = 49.2 [11.

Effect of Telehealth Extended Care for Maintenance of Weight Loss in Rural US Communities: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Lifestyle interventions for obesity produce reductions in body weight that can decrease risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease but are limited by suboptimal maintenance of lost weight and inadequate dissemination in low-resource communities.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of extended care programs for obesity management delivered remotely in rural communities through the US Cooperative Extension System.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This randomized clinical trial was conducted from October 21, 2013, to December 21, 2018, in Cooperative Extension Service offices of 14 counties in Florida.

Design of the Rural LEAP randomized trial: An evaluation of extended-care programs for weight management delivered via group or individual telephone counseling.

Obesity is a major contributor to the greater prevalence of chronic disease morbidity and mortality observed in rural versus nonrural areas of the U.S. Nonetheless, little research attention has been given to modifying this important driver of rural/urban disparities in health outcomes.

Practicality of intermittent fasting in humans and its effect on oxidative stress and genes related to aging and metabolism.

Caloric restriction has consistently been shown to extend life span and ameliorate aging-related diseases. These effects may be due to diet-induced reactive oxygen species acting to up-regulate sirtuins and related protective pathways, which research suggests may be partially inhibited by dietary anti-oxidant supplementation. Because caloric restriction is not sustainable long term for most humans, we investigated an alternative dietary approach, intermittent fasting (IF), which is proposed to act on similar biological pathways.

Metabolite profile analysis reveals functional effects of 28-day vitamin B-6 restriction on one-carbon metabolism and tryptophan catabolic pathways in healthy men and women.

Suboptimal vitamin B-6 status, as reflected by low plasma pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) concentration, is associated with increased risk of vascular disease. PLP plays many roles, including in one-carbon metabolism for the acquisition and transfer of carbon units and in the transsulfuration pathway. PLP also serves as a coenzyme in the catabolism of tryptophan.

Long-term safety of dichloroacetate in congenital lactic acidosis.

We followed 8 patients (4 males) with biochemically and/or molecular genetically proven deficiencies of the E1α subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC; 3 patients) or respiratory chain complexes I (1 patient), IV (3 patients) or I+IV (1 patient) who received oral dichloroacetate (DCA; 12.5 mg/kg/12 h) for 9.7 to 16.

Marginal vitamin B-6 deficiency decreases plasma (n-3) and (n-6) PUFA concentrations in healthy men and women.

Previous animal studies showed that severe vitamin B-6 deficiency altered fatty acid profiles of tissue lipids, often with an increase of linoleic acid and a decrease of arachidonic acid. However, little is known about the extent to which vitamin B-6 deficiency affects human fatty acid profiles. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of marginal vitamin B-6 deficiency on fatty acid profiles in plasma, erythrocytes, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of healthy adults fed a 28-d, low-vitamin B-6 diet.

Genomic analysis, cytokine expression, and microRNA profiling reveal biomarkers of human dietary zinc depletion and homeostasis.

Implementation of zinc interventions for subjects suspected of being zinc-deficient is a global need, but is limited due to the absence of reliable biomarkers. To discover molecular signatures of human zinc deficiency, a combination of transcriptome, cytokine, and microRNA analyses was applied to a dietary zinc depletion/repletion protocol with young male human subjects. Concomitant with a decrease in serum zinc concentration, changes in buccal and blood gene transcripts related to zinc homeostasis occurred with zinc depletion.

Use of modified cornstarch therapy to extend fasting in glycogen storage disease types Ia and Ib.

Background: Type I glycogen storage disease (GSD) is caused by a deficiency of glucose-6-phosphatase resulting in severe fasting hypoglycemia.

Objective: We compared the efficacy of a new modified starch with the currently used cornstarch therapy in patients with type Ia and Ib GSD.

Design: This was a randomized, 2-d, double-blinded, crossover pilot study comparing the commonly used uncooked cornstarch with the experimental starch in 12 subjects (6 GSDIa, 6 GSDIb) aged >or=13 y.

The gluten-free, casein-free diet in autism: results of a preliminary double blind clinical trial.

This study tested the efficacy of a gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) diet in treating autism using a randomized, double blind repeated measures crossover design. The sample included 15 children aged 2-16 years with autism spectrum disorder. Data on autistic symptoms and urinary peptide levels were collected in the subjects' homes over the 12 weeks that they were on the diet.

von Willebrand disease in women with menorrhagia: a systematic review.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of von Willebrand disease in women presenting with menorrhagia.

Design: Systematic review of studies evaluating the prevalence of von Willebrand disease in women with menorrhagia.

Setting: Hospital outpatient clinics (mainly gynaecological) and population surveys.

Randomised comparison of distension media for outpatient hysteroscopy.

Objective: To compare saline with and without added lignocaine and carbon dioxide distension for out patient hysteroscopy with regards to patient discomfort and hysteroscopic view.

Design: Single blind prospective randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Specialist out patient clinics in a large teaching hospital.

The long-term effectiveness of endometrial laser ablation: a survival analysis.

Objectives: To assess the long-term effectiveness of endometrial laser ablation and factors that predict long-term outcome.

Setting: A university teaching hospital.

Study Design: Postal questionnaires were sent to all women who underwent endometrial laser ablation between 1992 and 1998.